The State of Brightness
by Wheel Then
Summary: Alex is off on another mission, but this story is not about Alex. This story is about Jack and what she feels when Alex is on those missions. A look at Jack when Alex isn't home, when she doesn't have Alex at all. AU: Scorpia Rising never occured. Might be a little OOC due to Horowitz never writing about Jack in herself but always as a side character. Have a nice reading. One-Shot


**Well this is my first story on this Website, I have been here a while, but have only just started posting. Have a nice reading. Disclaimer: I do not own Alex Rider.**

The State of Brightness

It was almost three in the morning, at this time Jack Starbright was tossing and turning in her sleep. Once in a while she would mutter "Alex come home" or "Stupid MI6". She had come to the great United Kingdom as a law student, and then found a part-time job looking after a cute, doe-eyed seven year-old. As the years passed, she began to think of Alex as a little brother, rather than her charge. She never suspected anything of Ian Rider's business trips, though she did notice, he always came back a little worse for wear. She simply assumed that he was tired. Then it all came crashing down one night when the police came and told her that Ian had died in a car accident.

Jack abruptly awoke from her nightmare; it was always the same one. The dream went like this, some MI6 drone would come knocking at her door, then would tell her that her beloved brother was dead. She looked at her alarm clock, 2:56, I'm not going to be getting any more sleep tonight, she immediately thought. She never did get more than 4 hours of sleep when Alex was away. Alex had been away for quite long this time, it had been 2 weeks and 5 days since he had gone.

She got out of bed and trudged down the stairs to the kitchen. She started her usual routine for breakfast, coffee, jam, toast, etc. She did not have to go to work until 8 am anyways. Since she no longer had any source of income to support her and Alex, she had been forced to get a job at the local mart. It wasn't a bad job by any means. In fact, it helped her get her mind off of Alex while she was working. Though, she never did give up her passion for Art, she still attended any free seminars. Jack spent the time watching the tube, though the only thing on was a James Bond marathon. Lately, she had started to dislike the old classics.

* * *

As she was leaving for Work, she was interrupted their neighbor, Mrs. Berg. Mrs. Berg was an old widow with a curiosity bigger than a whale and owned more cats than a zoo. She was nice, but could be at times, quite annoying.

"Well, hello there, my dearie" she called, "you seem quite down today, tell me all about it over some crème and coffee"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Berg, but I really must be going, I have to be at work soon," she replied.

"Is this about that young man that has disappeared a lot lately, he seemed like such a nice boy, I wonder what dark alley he has gone down now. The youth these days don't know right from wrong."

This comment irked Jack quite a bit, "Calm down Jack" she told herself, "There is no point in yelling at an old lady." So she simply said, "Goodbye Mrs. Berg,maybe we can discuss this later." She then quickly scurried out to the bus which was conveniently waiting at the corner.

* * *

She was working behind the register today at her job. So she was normally busy, they did only have two other registers. She was going to be working a double shift, 8-12 and 4-8. The register was not her most favorite position; it was the same conversation at least five to six hundred times a day. It was always, "Hello Mr. or Mrs. Blank" then "Your total is blank" and finally "Have a nice day." It got quite monotonous.

She felt so alone, so stranded, so lost. She had only felt like this once before in her entire life. It was when her brother, Brandon Starbright had joined the army and had never came back home. She had been 12 years old; she had looked up to him as a role model. They had told her that he had died a hero; he had risked his life to save the rest of his unit. You should be proud, they had told her but they did not understand, he would never be there to ruffle here hair or give her protect her when she needed it. They did not understand that his purple heart, which had been given to his family, was not his real heart. Alex filled that hole in the role of little brother. She had found her way again, she felt at peace, she had moved on.

Around 8, just when she had left work, she started getting this strange feeling. It was a heavy feeling; it weighed her down like a rucksack filled with dumbbells. She felt so sluggish, tired, sentimental, and weirdly enough guilty. She reached home in a hurry and pulled out a bunch of old picture books from the basement. Even if she could not actually see Alex, at least she would be able see his old pictures. As she was looking a small smile crept up on to her face, Alex was just so cute as a little boy. Out of nowhere, this huge feeling of grief jumped on her like no tomorrow. She picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, you have reached the Starbrights, we are not available right now, so please leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible" her father's gruff voice said on the other side.

"Hey Mom and Dad, wanted to talk to you guys right now. I just really miss you right now, hopefully we can talk later, bye," Jack voiced.

She put the phone down and looked at the clock; it was already 11 pm. "Time for bed," she sighed drearily. Then something happened just as she was about to go to sleep. The doorbell went off followed by two long and hard raps on the door.

**I'll let you imagine what happen next, heheh. There it is, my first story on fanfiction, I did take some liberties with my story due to Jack being kind of an ambiguous character in terms of her history. Reviews Would be appreciated, I am always looking to improve. **


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